Patrons and prote?ge?es is a collection of essays about nine male-female literary relationships in nineteenth-century America. It examines the ways in which modern criticism has regarded these and other mentorial friendships. We have smugly assumed that in most cases, a powerful great (or once great) male writer was pursued by a weak and untalented female one. We have in nearly every case flattered the patron at the expense of the prote?ge?e. The authors of these essays reveal the mutual advantages found in some cases by both patron and prote?ge?e. They tell us what the men sought and how they viewed their own role. And they reveal the frustrations of the women, who were kept in their place even as their work was fostered. Perhaps what all of the essays have in common as a theme is the impossibility of individuals behaving well when the cultural dictates were so confining (cover).